Food policy. The fifth neighborhood hub against food waste opens
Milan, September 21 2022 – A new center for the collection and storage of food surpluses from various large-scale retail outlets to expand the network of neighborhood hubs against food waste created by the Municipality of Milan in collaboration with local partners and associations.
The new centre's hub, inaugurated today, is located in the spaces of the IBVA Association, in via Santa Croce 15, alongside Solidando, a social market that has been involved in the fight against food poverty for years.
After Gallaratese, Isola and Lambrate, together with the Foody hub within the Milan agri-food market, with the opening of the center hub another important node has been added to the network developed by the Municipality of Milan for the fight against food waste and support for food aid actions active in the city, a network already awarded with the Earthshot prize 2021 and which is leading the way at an international level.
The opening of the center hub was possible thanks to an already tested public-private partnership model. Specifically, the initiative was promoted by the Food policy area of the Municipality of Milan, IBVA, Municipio 1, Fondazione Cariplo, Assolombarda and Politecnico di Milano with the Food sustainability Observatory. The hub was created thanks to the contribution of the Banca di Credito Cooperativo di Milano. Fair and green operation of the collection and delivery of products will then be ensured by the partnership with So.De., social, supportive and sustainable delivery.
The numbers of the neighborhood hubs against food waste
There are a total of four hubs already active throughout the territory of Milan: the hub in Municipality 4 at Foody - the agri-food market of Milan, which represents the evolution of the Fruit and Vegetables hub, developed during the 2020 lockdown and thanks to which 138 tons of fresh products had been distributed in eight weeks of activity; the hub of the Isola neighborhood (Town Hall 9); the Lambrate hub (Municipality 3); the Gallaratese hub (Municipality 8).
The monitoring of the initiative's data is carried out thanks to the collaboration with the Food sustainability Observatory of the Polytechnic of Milan and the support of Assolombarda on the Isola, Lambrate and Gallaratese hubs and with the State University of Milan for the Foody hub.
In 2021, the two already active hubs in Isola and Lambrate collected a total of over 170 tons of food for approximately 340.000 equivalent meals. In the first half of 2022, these two hubs were also joined by those of Gallaratese and Foody, which made it possible to reach 130 tonnes for over 260.000 equivalent meals in the first six months of the year alone.
In total, over 3.000 families were reached thanks to the activity of the neighborhood hubs and the collaboration of around ten brands involved in approximately thirty points of sale.
Updated: 22/09/2022